Some of you may remember my project with my daughter's first communion gown.
I started collecting antique first communion/confirmation photos and fashion
plates then with plans to put them online. My daughter was 8 y.o. then...
now she is 14. I am finally putting the photos online!
When I was started collecting, another h-costumer, Kathleen Mitchell, was
collecting the antique photos too. Kathleen and I have combined our photo
collections to put in my online Library. Together, we have app. 125-150
photos of children receiving these sacraments until the 1940s. I started
putting the girls' photos online Easter Monday. My goal is to get as many
of the photos online as possible before Pentecost, also called WhitSunday.
From the Catholic Encyclopedia website,
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15614b.htm :
"Whitsunday is so called from the white garments which were worn by those
who were baptised during the vigil; Pentecost ("Pfingsten" in German), is
the Greek for "the fiftieth" (day after Easter)."
I call this series "Sunday's Best-Dress Clothes." As of today, there are 36
photos of girls in the Library. There are three index pages you may view
without having a Library subscription. There are also two free access
webpages of photos that were a challenge to clean. Those pages shown a
transition of how the photos were cleaned. I will also be adding boys and
group photos to the series soon.
Indexes:
http://www.costumegallery.com/Religious/girls/1stCommunion/page1.htm
http://www.costumegallery.com/Religious/girls/1stCommunion/page2.htm
http://www.costumegallery.com/Religious/girls/Confirmation/page1.htm
Free access pages:
http://www.costumegallery.com/Religious/girls/1stCommunion/girl23.htm
http://www.costumegallery.com/Religious/girls/1stCommunion/girl35.htm
Please ignore if the url includes the words, first communion or
confirmation. I had the categories set up before doing some extensive
research. The conclusion after interviewing several priests, it is very
difficult to determine by the child's clothing which sacrament was being
received. The largest factor was that in 1910 Pope Pius X changed the order
in which sacraments were received. Another factor was when the bishop went
to rural parishes. Sometimes he went to the outer parishes every other
year. The bishops confirmed the children. The age of recipients of the
sacraments varied, so I couldn't go by the age of the child to determine the
purpose of the photograph. The only time, I state on the webpage if the
photo was for first communion and/or confirmation, was if it was stated on
the photo.
Another problem arose with a young girl, around the age of 4-6 y.o., in the
photograph with an older veiled girl. The younger child could have been an
attendant to the older child. The priests agreed that the young girl was
probably the May Queen. If Easter ran last in the year, AND the sacraments
were received during May, the May Queen would take their photo with the
sacrament recipients. The May Queen was the young girl who lead the
procession to crown the Virgin's statue. May is the month celebrating the
Virgin. The procession to the statue would generally be held the same day
as the sacrament mass. A couple of photos that will be added to the series,
included the sacrament recipient with a wreath of flowers on a pillow.
Kathleen and I hope you enjoy the series!
Penny Ladnier,
Owner
www.costumegallery.com
www.costumelibrary.com
www.costumeclassroom.com
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